3/11/2009 @ 6:00PM

Photo Gallery: Homes Of The Billionaires

It’s no surprise that the world’s billionaires live in bigger spreads than the rest of us. But those deep pockets also buy the kind of eye-popping extras that stretch the imagination. It takes a nine-digit fortune to buy a home outfitted with a gold-plated pool, Turkish baths and a 2,500-square-foot gym. You’ll find these and other amenities in our annual tour of the homes of the billionaires.

Warren Buffett

Omaha, Neb.

Net Worth: $37 billion

Rank: 2

The world’s second-richest man still resides in the 6,000-square-foot, five-bedroom gray stucco home he bought in 1958 for $31,500. The 77-year-old keeps fit on his very own handball court. In 2007 an intruder armed with a fake gun tried to break into the modest, ungated property, but was thwarted by security.

Bill Gates

Medina, Wash.

Net Worth: $40 billion

Rank: 1

Gates’ 66,000-square-foot compound is built into a hillside on the edge of Lake Washington, near Seattle. Out-of-shape visitors can skip the 84-step hike to the ground floor and opt for an elevator ride instead. Among its enviable amenities: a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system, a 2,500-square-foot gym and a 1,000-square-foot dining room, which seats 24.

Lakshmi Mittal

London, England

Net Worth: $19.3 billion

Rank: 8

In 2004, Mittal paid $128 million for this 12-bedroom townhouse in the luxe Kensington neighborhood called Billionaires’ Row. Mittal’s mansion, tucked between Kensington Palace and the Sultan of Brunei’s spread, has an indoor pool, Turkish baths and garage space for 20 cars. The super-home is embellished with marble taken from the same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal.

Larry Ellison

Woodside, Calif.

Net Worth: $22.5 billion

Rank: 4

Over the last few years, the Oracle co-founder has kept jaws a-dropping by spending $200 million by some estimates on near a dozen properties in Malibu, including five homes that in aggregate would create a custom compound. His 23-acre estate in Woodside, pictured here, is reminiscent of a 16th-century imperial Japanese palace and reportedly cost upward of $100 million to build.

Michael Dell

Austin, Texas

Net Worth: $12.3 billion

Rank: 25

Built in 1997, Dell’s 33,000-square-foot manse sits on a 20-acre spread a stone’s throw from where he founded his eponymous computer company. It is known locally as “the castle” thanks to its high walls and tight security.

James Packer

Sydney, Australia

Net Worth: $2.5 billion

Rank: 261

The young media heir was raised at the Packer family compound in the tony Bellevue Hill suburb of Sydney. The centerpiece of the five-property spread, which stretches nearly three acres, is Cairnton, the main house, bought by Packer’s grandfather in 1935.

Steve Jobs

Woodside, Calif.

Net Worth: $3.4 billion

Rank: 178

In 2007 preservationists in Woodside, Calif., successfully quashed the tech superstar’s plans to demolish the Jackling House, his 30-room historic, though dilapidated Spanish Colonial revival-style home set on six acres. Jobs had hoped to raze the 17,000-square-foot mansion and build smaller, newer digs. No matter. Word is he and his family haven’t lived in the house for years.

Lev Leviev

London, England

Net Worth: $1.5 billion

Rank: 468

In 2008 the world’s largest diamond cutter decamped from Israel to the posh London suburb of Hampstead. His new $65 million home, called the Palladio, is an extravagant 17,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom estate replete with in-house nightclub and gold-plated indoor pool. Neighbors include musicians Ringo Starr and Maurice Gibb.

Ralph Lauren

Montauk, N.Y.

Net Worth: $2.8 billion

Rank: 224

America’s original fashion mogul bought this stone and wood beach house, situated on five-and-a-half acres, in 1981. The cozy home, which boasts a clay tennis court, once belonged to John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

George Lucas

Marin County, Calif.

Net Worth: $3 billion

Rank: 205

The acclaimed Star Wars filmmaker lives and works on his famed Skywalker Ranch. The 5,156-acre spread, which boasts its own fire brigade, houses Skywalker Sound, Lucas’ post-production company (Cast Away, Million Dollar Baby), as well as five acres of olive trees, a herd of longhorn cattle and even bee colonies. Lucas displays his Hollywood memorabilia–the Holy Grail from the Indiana Jones series, Charlie Chaplin’s cane–inside the 50,000-square-foot main house.

Steven Spielberg

East Hampton, N.Y.

Net Worth: $3 billion

Rank: 205

Called Quelle Farm, Spielberg’s 12-acre summer retreat sits on Georgica Pond, the A-lister playground of Ron Perelman and Calvin Klein. The Hollywood kingpin and his wife play host to a retinue of top stars and their families each summer, the Clintons and Gwyneth Paltrow and her brood among them.

Donald Trump

New York, N.Y.

Net Worth: $1.6 billion

Rank: 450

The blustery real-estate-magnate-turned-reality

-TV-star may have the Billionaires Club’s shortest commute: he lives in the 32,000-square-foot triplex penthouse of his Trump Tower office building. The monument to marble-and-gold got the once-over thanks to Trump’s third wife Melania, who oversaw recent renovations that gave their son Barron his own floor. The tyke’s décor was inspired by Louis XIV.

Oprah Winfrey

Montecito, Calif.

Net Worth: $2.7 billion

Rank: 234

The self-made media mogul paid $50 million in 2001 for the 23,000-square-foot Georgian-style home she calls the “Promised Land.” In 2007 the spread was appraised at just under $85 million. For such a public persona, Winfrey ferociously guards the privacy of her home, situated on 43 acres. At a Barack Obama fund raiser last year, guests were strictly prohibited from entering the house, and cameras were forbidden.